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Sensuality in the Young
349
sin and evil rather than true goodness, purity, and righteousness. It
is a deplorable picture.
The effect of such debasing habits is not the same upon all
minds. There are some children who have the moral powers largely
developed, who, by associating with children that practice self-abuse,
become initiated into this vice. The effect upon such will be too
frequently to make them melancholy, irritable, and jealous; yet such
may not lose their respect for religious worship, and may not show
special infidelity in regard to spiritual things. They will at times
suffer keenly from feelings of remorse, and will feel degraded in
their own eyes, and lose their self-respect.
Brother and sister, you are not clear before God. You have
failed to do your duty at home, in your own family. You have not
controlled your children. You have greatly failed to know and do
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the will of God, and His blessing has not rested upon your family.
Brother E, you have been selfish. You have had large self-esteem.
You have thought that you possessed a good degree of humility, but
you have not understood yourself. Your ways are not right before
God. Your influence and example have not been in accordance with
your profession. You have much fault to find with others; you see
deviations from the right in them, but you are blind to the same in
yourself.
Sister E has been far from God. Her heart has not been subdued
by grace. Her love of the world, and of the things that are in the
world, has closed her heart to the love of God. The love of dress
and appearance has kept her from good, and led her to place her
mind and affections upon these frivolous things. Unbelief has been
strengthening in her heart, and she has had less and less love for
the truth, and could see but little attraction in the simplicity of true
godliness. She has not encouraged a growth of Christian graces.
She has not loved humility or devotion. She has taken the errors of
those who professed to be devoted to the truth, and made their lack
of spirituality, their errors, and their sins an excuse for her world-
loving disposition. She has watched the course of those who were
connected with the-----, and who were forward to take upon them
the burdens of the church, and has offset her failures to their wrongs,
saying that she was no worse than they. Such and such individuals
in good standing did this or that, and she had as good a right as they.